TeamGK: Gianluigi Buffon (Tuscany)Considered
to be one of the greatest keeper ever. He made his Serie A debut at
the age of 17. He earned his first cap when he was 19. His
biggest achievement must be winning the WC in 2006. He has been named
the Serie A Goalkeeper of the Year a record eight time.

Gianluigi Buffon

GK: Enrico Albertosi (Tuscany)He was one of the best keepers in his generations. He played with Fiorentina that won Cup Winners' Cup in 1961. Then, he played with Riva that won a scudetti with Caligari in 1970. He was a part of Italy's European Championship team in 1968.GK: Angelo Peruzzi (Lazio)He was both Juventus and Italy's starting keeper before Gianluigi Buffon emerged on the scene. However, he missed both France 1998 and Euro 2000 through injuries. He was the backup keeper at WC 2006.RB: Mauro Tassotti (Rome/Lazio)He was a part of both Arrigo Sacchi's and Fabio Capello's AC Milan. He won 17 major titles in 17 years.He went to the WC in 1994, where Italy came second.

RB: Francesco Rocca (Rome/Lazio) He played his entire career with Roma. He played 18 games for the Italy national football team from 1974 to 1976. he retired at the age of 26 because of a serious injury.

CB: Alessandro Nesta(Rome/Lazio)He
is considered the best defender of his generation. He was the Serie A
defender of the Year for 4 times. He played in the 2006 WC winning
team, but injured in the third game of the tournament. He won two
Champions' league with AC Milan. He also played with Lazio.

CB: Lionello Manfredonia (Rome/Lazio)

During his club career, the central defender played for Lazio (1975–85), Juventus (1985–87) and Roma (1987–89). He also played four times for the Italy national football team, and was a member of the 1978 FIFA World Cup squad.

He was a part of Antonio Conte's great defensive unit at Juventus. He went to both WC in 2010 and 2014.

CB: Andrea Barzagli (Tuscany)While he was a part of Italian national team's player pool since 2004, he was mainly used as a backup for the Azzuri. However, his career took off during his stint with Juventus. Barzagli first made his name with Palermo. Later, he moved to Wolvesburg. In 2011, he joined Antonio Conte's Juventus. He established himself as one of the best in the world.

He
was the starting fullback for Roma before he went to Valencia. His
team made it to the Champions' League Finals twice and won the UEFA
Cup/League Double in 2003/2004.LB: Fabio Grosso (Rome/Lazio)
Grosso was the hero of Italy's 2006 WC winning team. He earned the penalty that best Australia ar the round of 16, scored the winning goal in the semifinal and then, the final penalty kick in the Final. He started his career in the lower divisions before making a name with Perugia and Palermo.

Fabio Grosso

DM: Marco Tardelli (Tuscany)He
played at the 1978 World Cup Finals in Argentina and the 1980 European
Football Championship at home. He was the unsung hero of Italy's 1982
WC winning team. He was capped 81 times. He also won all the three major European competitions with Juventus. DM: Daniele De Rossi (Rome/Lazio)
At the time of writing, he has played his entire career with Roma. He was an important player for Italy since making his national debut in 2004. He went to every major international tournaments. He was Italian Footballer of the Year in 2009.

He was a member of the 1934 WC winning team. He played mainly for Roma.

RW: Bruno Conti (Rome/Lazio)Conti
was the greatest winger in Italy's history. He won the World Cup in
1982. The following season, he helped Roma to win the league title. He also led them to the 1984 European Cup Final but were defeated on penalties by Liverpool.AM/LM: Francesco Totti (Rome/Lazio)Totti is the long serving captain of Roma. He brought the scudetti back to Roma in 2001 after 20 years. He was named the Italian Footballer of the Year for 2000 and 2001. He won the European Golden Boot award in 2006-2007. He won a World Cup with Italy in 2006.

Francesco Totti

AM: Giuseppe Giannini (Rome/Lazio)He was a symbol of Roma before the emerge of Totti. He played mainly for them, but with brief stints in other clubs at his late years.He played for Italy during Italia 1990. His nickname was "Il Principe" (The Prince).

FW: Roberto Mancini (Marche)He started his career with Bologna, but probably best remembered for his years with Sampdoria. He formed a great partnership with Gianluca Vialli there, winning the Cup Winners' Cup in 1990 and the scudetti in 1991. He only played 36 times for Italy because of fierce competition from Gianfranco Zola, Giuseppe Signori, Roberto Baggio and Alessandro Del Piero.

AM: Giancarlo Antognoni (Umbria)He was Fiorentina's greatest ever player . He was a key player for Italy's WC winning team in 1982, but he missed the Final because of an injury. He was capped 73 times for the Azzurri. Because of his loyalty with his club, he never won anything at the club level. FW: Paolo Rossi (Tuscany)He
was the hero of Italy's WC winning team in 1982. Notable for scoring a
hattrick against Brazil in Spain, and went on to win the Golden boot. He
was also the European player of the Year in 1982. He was a part of the
great Juventus team of the 1980's.

Paolo Rossi

FW: Alessandro Altobelli (Rome/Lazio)He
was the star striker for Inter Milan during the 1980's. He scored over 200
goals for them. He was best-remembered for scoring a goal against West
Germany at the WC Final in 1982. ST: Francesco Graziani (Rome/Lazio)He was a key player at Argentina 1978 and was a part of the team that won the WC in 1982. He was an all-timer at Torino. He also played for Fiorentina, Roma and Udinese.

ST: Giorgio Chinaglia(Tuscany)Lazio also voted him as their
greatest player. I 1973-1974, he led the league in scoring as Lazio won the scudetti. Later, he received a lot name recogination when he played for NY Cosmos. He was one of the few players who played in NASL during their prime.Honorable mentionBruno Giordano (Rome/Lazio), Luigi Di Biagio (Rome/Lazio), RB: Ardico Magnini (Tuscany), Angelo Di Livio(Rome/Lazio), CM: Alberigo Evani, Fabrizio Ravanelli (Umbria), Paulo Di Canio (Rome/Lazio).

Squad Explanation

This team is not the best teams out of all of my all-time teams from Italy, but it included two players who contributed enormously for Italy winning the World Cup. Paulo Rossi and Fabio Grosso were World cup heros.

Giorgio Chinaglia (Tuscany) received a lot name recogination because he played with NY Cosmos and Lazio during their glorious days. Lazio also voted him as their greatest player. And since this an all-time team for the region, I gave him a lot of credits for his career with Lazio.

Paulo Di Canio (Rome/Lazio) never got his chance with Italy. I also dropped him because there are too many forwards/attack midfielders on this team.

Starting lineup

Formation: 4-3-3

The offense was almost identical to the 1982 team with Rossi, Altobelli, Conti and Antognoni. I started Altobelli over Graziani because he emerged as a star of the Azzurri in the mid-1980's.

Grosso was rewarded a starting position for his World Cup contributions.